What is Fun About Numismatics?

Numismatics, the study of money and the collecting of such items, is not one of life’s necessities. Taking up the hobby is not normally done out of a profit-seeking motive. So, what is it about numismatics that makes it fun and enjoyable? Looking at money can provide information on history, art, geography and culture. You can share interesting finds with family and friends. These and more help make numismatics entertaining and fun. However, when you get right down to it, I think what is so much fun about collecting money is the treasure hunt. When I first started collecting, I ran errands almost every day for my grandparents and was allowed to keep the cents from the change. So, every day was a treasure hunt looking for coins to fill another hole in my blue folder. When my finances improved, I got to look through all the change to fill holes in my growing stack of folders. I lived close enough to the Canadian border, where the currency values were about equal, that I could even hunt for coins in folders for coins from that country.

The point is that the treasure hunt can start as easily as looking through pocket change. When I started collecting in 1964, it was possible to find coins going back 50 years. Today, you might still find coins that old that you can collect at face value. The treasure hunt is not necessarily a search for a valuable undiscovered rarity, though it can be. There are many experienced collectors looking out for a previously unknown variety that they can acquire at the regular issue price. However, the treasure hunt still can be just looking through pocket change for coins a collector does not yet have in their sets.

When you do an online search, visit a coin show or store, open an auction catalog or dealer price list, you are effectively going on a treasure hunt. Part of the fun of working at a coin business is that you are helping almost every customer go on a treasure hunt – both for those who are buying and those looking to sell.

So, be honest with yourself. Don’t you find numismatics to be fun because of the treasure hunt?